Coffee has a different taste when you enjoy it in your favorite cafe. Beyond the aroma, cupping profile, creaminess, fullness and other technical parameters, you get an experience, offered by the people you meet, the atmosphere of the place, the smile of the barista and countless other small details that make your coffee shop prefer a place where you can find yourself with love.
We at Prăjitoria de Cafea Olivo support cafes with personality, which are part of the new wave and which bring a breath of fresh air to the landscape of specialty cafes. Thus, starting with this edition of The Daily Cup, in each issue we will give the word to passionate people, whose love for coffee has given rise to fascinating places, where you risk losing yourself for hours enjoying an aromatic cup.
One such place is Artichoke Coffee Shop in Bucharest, a cafe with a cute name and an interesting story. Created by Diana and Alex, two young coffee lovers, artisanal and beautiful, Artichoke promises to soon become a hub for creativity and delicious coffee. Discover his story in the lines below.
1. Why Artichoke Coffee?
The shop is called Artichoke because both Alex and I wanted a nice name, but one that wouldn't conjure up coffee. We wanted to open an easy-going & friendly place, where the coffee is very tasty, but where the focus is on collaborations with artisans on food & drinks.
2. How did it all start? From the idea to the implementation of the concept?
It all started with finding the space and adapting to its requirements. I lived in London for almost 5 years and there I learned that the space dictates a lot the vibe of the place. So after we found the place, we tried as much as possible to integrate our ideas - specialty coffee, cakes and other products made by artisans, as well as relaxed design, plants and photography.
3. What is unique about Artichoke Coffee? What are the news that it brings?
What we think is nice about Artichoke is precisely this idea of working with small producers and artisans. Our goal is to discover as many people as possible who do things with passion in the area of food & drinks and to build a cool community together with people who would have the same interests.
4. Describe in 3 words the Artichoke Coffee experience, as you feel it.
Easy-going, customer-oriented, friendly.
5. What kind of coffee can Artichoke Coffee guests enjoy?
The coffee we serve is from the Olivo bakery in Cluj. We try new origins as often as possible. We currently have Columbia, Castillo variety, produced by The Cometa Family.
6. What do you want for Artichoke Coffee? How do you see the restaurant in the future?
Ideally, Artichoke would build this community of people passionate about various fields over time - whether we're talking about coffee, mayo bread or photography. Both Alex and I have always been interested in creative fields and crafts, so we want Artichoke to be about that.
7. Please tell us a few words about yourself & your passion for coffee.
My passion for coffee started quite late, when I was 24 years old. Up until then, I didn't even like coffee, but I went into a specialty coffee shop in London one day, had a latte and loved it incredibly. Since then, not a day has gone by that I don't drink my coffee in these hipster coffee shops (as I like to call them). I've always found it fascinating to observe the attention to detail that you find in these cafes, from the cool design of the spaces, to that of the loyalty cards. The most interesting thing seemed to me that these coffee shops managed to form communities of people around them. I met a lot of interesting people going to these coffee shops - from baristas super passionate about what they were doing, to photographers and graphic designers. I wish we could build the same at Artichoke.
Facebook: Artichoke Coffee . Bucharest, Calea Victoriei No. 45